In 2006, Arnold Cassola contested the Italian general elections with the Green Party in a coalition called L’Unione. This coalition went on to form the Sinistra Arcobaleno coalition-government lead by Prime Minister Romano Prodi from 2006 to 2008 until parliament was dissolved. The coalition was pro-abortion and included most of Italy’s left-wing parties including most of the communists.
So, people arguing that Arnold Cassola can’t contest with ADPD because of the pro-life issue are wrong. He had no problem to be part of a coalition with government that was feminist and pro-choice in principle, not to mention being in coalition with literal hammer-and-sickle-flag-waving communists. Daphne Caruana Galizia even wrote an article about it once, here.
In reality this is just an excuse and many people will find every excuse in the world not to be part of a larger a team. In Malta, Arnold Cassola can’t work as a team with other people unless he is the centre of attention and this lead him in many petty disputes with other Green Party members.
As many Maltese discover politics outside Labour and PN for the first time, they will slowly come to realise that it is not just a matter of voting for people with “good principles”, but it also a matter about voting for those who have the skill to work through a political system and deliver results. An essential perquisite of this skill is to work in bigger team with people of different viewpoints such as a political party.
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